Video: Yup, Steven Spielberg believes in aliens. As if you expected anything different from the man who made E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, War of the Worlds and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Image: Kevin Winter / Getty Images
That last one is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year and, in a new clip from the upcoming 4K Blu-ray box set, Spielberg talks about his intentions for the film and fact that he believes in aliens.
The exact quote, if you don’t feel like watching the video, is: “I really believed that there was something up there. I still believe we’re not alone in the universe.”
And while the fact that Spielberg believes in aliens isn’t exactly a surprise, his approach to Close Encounters kind of is. In the same clip, the legendary director says with Close Encounters, he didn’t set out to make a science fiction film. Which at first seems odd because, obviously, it’s a science fiction film. It ends with a giant spaceship coming to Earth, for crying out loud. However, Spielberg not viewing it that way, and giving it a realistic feeling throughout, is almost certainly why the film remains as revered today as it was 40 years ago. He had to approach it as 100 per cent real and grounded for it to have the impact it does.
That new Close Encounters box set is out October 4.